Where were you when JFK was shot?

The Sentinel asked area residents where they were on that fateful day in 1963.

Holland Sentinel

Writer

Posted Nov. 22, 2013 at 7:00 AM

Posted Nov. 22, 2013 at 7:00 AM

President Barack Obama is ordering that flags be lowered at government buildings today to mark the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

In a presidential proclamation released Thursday, Obama says the anniversary is a day to honor Kennedy's memory and "celebrate his enduring imprint on American history." Obama says Kennedy's vision for the U.S. and the world lives "in the generations he inspired."

Earlier in the week, Obama visited Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Today, Obama will meet with representatives from the Peace Corps, which Kennedy established.

The Sentinel asked area residents where they were on that fateful day in 1963.

“I was in my home, cleaning up after the day’s work. … (My children) went to Christian school, so there were prayers going up and they sent them home to do the same.” — Julia Van Koevering

“In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. My buddies and I were breaking the world record for double ocean crossing in a homemade sailboat.” — Don Lewis

“I was in the hospital for the birth of my first son when the nurse came running into the room and said ‘turn your televisions on. The president’s been shot.'” — Marilyn Wassink

“I was in New York. I was a little girl in Queens, N.Y. I was 4 or 5 years old. It was in the afternoon and all of a sudden the person on the news came on and said the president had been shot. … My dad was a minister. We lived in the parsonage next to the church. My mom and dad were home. I noticed how stunned they were. … It was similar to when I picked up my youngest son from school and seeing the second (World Trade Center) tower fall (in 2001).” — Mary R. Medendorp

“I was in a high school classroom, walking down the halls and they came out with an announcement over the PA that the president had been shot. … I was going to go to a college football game that Saturday and most of the sporting events that weekend were canceled.” — Carey Strykowski

“I was at my house and my youngest child was in kindergarten, so she’d just gone to school. The next few days, that was all people did was sit in front of the television.” — Mary Jarnagin

“I was working as a barber at the time. The dentist next door came over and said he’d just heard it on the radio.” — Bill Jarnagin